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Question:
What causes one to be under the influence of witchcraft, evil eyes or Jinn possession?

Answer:

One must be fully aware that witchcraft is forbidden and is an act of Kufr (denial of Allah); the sorcerer employs devils, and appeals to the Jinn for support in implementing harmful tasks. For instance, when the sorcerer wants to harm a man or woman, he invites his devils, who obey him, and he slaughters (animals) as a sacrifice to them or serves them one way or the other. He, then, asks them to possess whomever he wants to harm, and the possession takes place, but by the permission of Allah.

Treatment of witchcraft effects is by seeking protection in Allah‘s remembrance, worship and obedience on the one hand, and in shunning sins and bad company on the other. One should also read the Qur‘an as much as possible, ponder on the meanings of its Ayahs and regularly say the daily and nightly prayers. In response to all these good deeds, Allah will protect one from the influence of possession and magic.

As far as the evil eye is concerned, there are those who are jealous and envious of others. On seeing a pleasing thing, they direct their hearts towards it trying to speak so sharply that their eyesight produces some kind of poisonous emissions which affect the cast- receiver, but by Allah‘s permission.

Treatment of evil eye effects lies in avoiding the company of people known for being envious; one should not wear his best dress in their presence. The eye-casters themselves should be advised to refrain from harming others and should be asked to pray for blessings for fellow Muslims and to always say such things as /maa shaa-allaah!/ (How admirable what Allah has willed!) and /laa hawla wa-laa quwwata illaa bil-laahl (There is no might or power, except with Allah.)

What is the ruling of an individual who loves a scholar or a Da’ee and says: I love him very much, I do not want to listen to anyone refuting him and I take his word even if it goes against the evidence, because the shaykh has more knowledge of the evidence than us?

This is detestable and blameworthy partisanship and it is not allowed. We love the scholars-and all praise is to Allaah-and we love the Du’aat (callers) for the sake of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic. However if one from amongst them makes an error in an issue, we make clear the truth in that issue with the evidence and this does not decrease our love for the one who is refuted nor does it decrease his status. Imaam Maalik-rahimahullaah- said: “There is no one from amongst us except that he will refute or be refuted, except the companion of this grave.” Meaning the Messenger of Allaah SAllaahu Alihee Wasallam.

If we refute some of the people of knowledge and some of the people of virtue, this does not mean that we hate him or dispraise him, we only make clear what is correct and for this reason some of the scholars, when some of their colleagues made an error, said: “So and so is beloved to us, however the truth is more beloved to us than him. ” And this is the correct way.

Do not understand from this that to refute some of the scholars in an issue where they have erred in, means lowering them or having hatred for them. Rather the scholars have not ceased refuting each other and at the same time being brothers and having mutual love. It is not allowed for us to take everything that an individual says unquestionably, whether he is correct or in error, because this is partisanship.

The one whose statement is taken absolutely and nothing from it is left, is the Messenger of Allaah Sallaahu Alihee Wasallam. Because he is a Messenger from his Lord and does not speak from his desires. As for other than them (messengers), then sometimes they make errors and sometimes they are correct, even though they may be from the best of the people, they are Mujtahidoon that make mistakes at times and are correct at others. No one is infallible from falling into error except the Messenger of Allaah Sallaahu Alihee Wasallam. It is therefore Waajib that we know this and that we do not remain silent upon error, due to love of an individual. Rather it is upon us that we make the error clear. The Prophet Sallaahu Alihee Wasallam said: “The religion is sincere advice. We said: To whom. He said: To Allaah, His book, His messenger, the leaders of the Muslims and their general people.”

So clarification of an error is advice for all, as for concealing it, then this goes against advice.

This issue, in reality, is one of the most serious drawbacks of knowledge, rather, if you will, you can say that it depletes the many blessings (i.e. barakah) that are found in knowledge. Many of the Salaf (i.e. pious predecessors) have spoken very thoroughly and extensively about this issue. If jealousy (i.e. hasad) takes hold of the student of knowledge it will destroy his hereafter, and the more he finds himself consumed by it, the greater and more severe the harm will be.

Jealousy is an obstacle that infringes on the student’s ability to seek knowledge, his ability to be present during the dissemination of knowledge and likewise, infringes on his ability to comprehend what he hears of knowledge. Many communities have not escaped this issue although the people vary as it relates to it. Some are largely engrossed in it and others are barely affected by it.

Therefore, it is imperative that much is said about the topic of jealousy due to its danger and the prevalence of it amid the students of knowledge, especially amongst those who are contemporary peers to one another, because it corrupts their endeavor of seeking knowledge. Allah commented on the mischief of the jealous individual in His book as well as the Prophet (Sallahu alaihi wa salam) who also warned against his ill nature. We all read the statement of Allah:

“…and from the evil of the jealous person when he gets jealous” {113:6}
And we read:

“Or are they jealous of the people because of what Allah has bestowed upon them from His bounty…” {4:54}
And we read the statement of the Prophet (Sallahu alaihi wa salam):

“And don’t become jealous of one another…”

(Collected Saheeh Al Bukhari)

And the statement of the Prophet:

“There is no jealousy except in two situations: A man whom Allah has given him the Book (i.e. Qur’an) and he recites it day and night. And a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in charity day and night.”

(Collected Saheeh Al Bukhari)

Jealousy has reasons and at the same time, it is a disease that can be cured. If you have some degree of jealousy in you, then you should be extremely cautious and never negligent of it, because jealousy is like vegetation, in that, the more it is nourished the more it will continue to grow and develop, so as long as the individual continues to be careless about it and neglects to rid himself of it. The hatred that is produced as a result of jealousy is more foundational with the desire than the hatred caused by anything else, as the poet said:“For every type of hatred there is hope for its eventual love, except the hatred of the individual who envies you due to jealousy!”

Sheikh ul Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“There is no human body that is free from jealousy; however the noble one conceals it while the ignoble one reveals it.”

The human being is weak by nature and is subjected to many character-flaws because of it and from these flaws is that of jealousy, especially between contemporary peers and especially between the students of knowledge.

Imam Ath Thahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) commented:

“There was no community that was free from division and jealousy except the prophets and messengers.”

If the jealous individual would consider his condition for a moment, he would notice that, by his jealousy, he is actually displaying his discontentment with the divine decree (i.e. Qadr) of Allah in that, when Allah bestows a blessing on one of His servants, the jealous person either physically or verbally expresses his displeasure with the bounty Allah conferred upon him.

This character-flaw increases the heart in coarseness and distances the slave from any hope of good. And if we were to open the door wide for sincere mutual advice to one another and request from our peers and our brothers sincere advice we would be able to avoid this evil pitfall. And it was because of this that Al Ahnaf Ibn Qays said:

“Reprimand is better than resentment!”

So if every one of us saw a particular fault or character defect in his brother, especially amongst the students of knowledge, and hastened to advise him and make du’a (i.e. supplication) for him, and reject any destructive criticism of him or any offensive insult or attack on his character, then many of our affairs would easily be rectified. Nonetheless, the desire of the individual pushes him to seek superiority over others by exposing their faults and thus the individual is not able to rid himself of this ignoble quality restrain it with the reins of taqwah (i.e. God-consciousness and fear of Allah) and piety.

[ “Millstones in the Path of Seeking Knowledge”, Translated by Shadeed Muhammad on Sunday July 24, 2011 corresponding to the 23rd of Sha’ban 1432H in the City of Philadelphia.]

These signs are minimized or increased depending on the strength of the jealousy in the individual. I am going to mention some of these signs so that perhaps the one who is tested with them can hasten to rid himself of them. I will restrict these signs only to those prevalent amid the students of knowledge.

The First:To rejoice at the mistake of his fellow student.

The error of his fellow student is greater than the error of any other because his peer is the one who competes with him in being at the forefront and competes with him within the same community and thus he infringes upon his opportunity to be the elite show-off. So every time his peer errs or makes a mistake, his joy and happiness increases and he considers it a glad tiding of his own rise because he believes that the mistake of his fellow student translates into the rise or upliftment of his own pre-eminence. There are very few people who escape this particular sign. It is an internal matter of the heart that none knows of except Allah and then the individual himself. If there is anyone from amongst us who is in possession of this quality, then it is upon him to hasten with its removal and to repent to Allah from it.

The Second:To rejoice at the absence of his fellow student from the circles of knowledge.

To be happy at the absence of his peer from the circle of knowledge or to be happy at his lack of attendance in an affair that he could possibly debate or argue with you in. You will notice two peers from the students of knowledge, when they are together, one of them most likely contends with the other due to the possession of knowledge they both have. So when one of them is absent, the other is left to attend the circle of knowledge by himself exclusively and is able to stand out amid the rest of their peers. So he is overjoyed at the absence of his fellow student and he thinks that because of it, there is a possible rise in his level over him due to the fact that he has access to more knowledge than him.

The Third:It pleases him to hear someone insult his fellow student and call him offensive names.

It pleases him to hear someone insult his fellow student and call him offensive names and he actually finds himself content with this. Rather he doesn’t even try to stop the individual from back-biting his fellow student or insulting him and may even partake in or assist the individual in doing so! There is no doubt that this is haram (i.e. forbidden), as backbiting the average layman is impermissible, not to mention a student of knowledge whose benefit far surpasses just himself.

The Fourth:He has nothing positive to say about his fellow student when he is asked about him.

A new student of knowledge may come to the jealous student or a general questioner and ask about aparticular individual regarding something generally related to him and the jealous student will seize theopportunity to speak ill about him or to belittle his status as a student or to address him by an offensivename and there is no doubt that this sign is connected to the previous one.

The Fifth: To find difficulty within himself if a question is directed towards other than him or the response to a question is requested from his fellow student while he is present.

Two or three students may be present in a gathering and it may be requested from one of them to speak or a question might be directed towards him specifically and you will find that the jealous one is overcome by extreme difficulty and embarrassment while he tries diligently to act as if it doesn’t bother him. This is because the direction of a question to this fellow student in particular is from the most extreme calamities he can be afflicted with. If this individual would consider for a moment: This is the bounty of Allah which He bestows on whomsoever He wills, and the fact that the question was directed towards him, does not necessarily mean that he is more virtuous than you absolutely, then it would be easy for him to handle this.

The Sixth:To belittle the benefit or the knowledge his fellow student brings to the table.

The jealous student could possibly research an issue or the response to a certain problematic subject and turn many pages and search through many volumes and still not find the answer to his problem. On the other hand, his peer could do the same and come out successful. And when it is brought to his attention
that his fellow student did such, he belittles the effort he exerted.

But if it was brought to his attention that someone else did this, he would supplicate for him and praise him and even exaggerate the mere mention of his name!
However, if the benefit came to him by way of this particular student, he intentionally conceals his admiration for him and does his best to conceal the benefit which his fellow student was responsible for finding. This is because he considers the materialization of his fellow student’s reputation to be an infringement upon his own right to be recognized or a diminution of his own personality!

The Seventh:To try and find fault with the speech of his fellow student when he speaks or to criticize him when he responds to a question.

You will notice that when some of the people are in a gathering and a issue is brought up and someone responds to it, the one who has a disease or jealousy in his heart will try and find a pretentious problem in his response, rather he will try and create a mistake in his response or he will try and alter his speech from its apparent meaning or misinterpret his speech until he makes it erroneous and there is no doubt that this is the result of a disease in his heart

[ This was taken from the Shaykh’s monumental book “Millstones in the Path of Seeking Knowledge” Translated by Shadeed Muhammad on Sunday July 24, 2011 corresponding to the 23rd of Sha’ban 1432H. in the City of Philadelphia.]

May Allah show good to you, what is your advice about is widespread regarding the ikhtilaf among some of the students of knowledge wherein some make tabdi ’ of others for even the slightest doubt which may arise from another?

Answer from Shaykh Salih as-Suhaymi :

I brought attention to this in the advice which I gave (2) and I said that it is upon the students of knowledge to fear Allah, ’Azza wa Jall, and that he should not be hasty in making tabdi ’, tafseeq or bringing down his brothers, and that he should preserve his tongue. He should refer matters back to the senior scholars (al-’Ulama al-Kibar) as they are the ones who assess these matters.

As for what exists in some countries which do not have ’Ulama then you find them making tabdi ’ of each other while they are all small students of knowledge, and they may not even be students of knowledge! They boycott and dispute with each other over the most insignificant of reasons without referring back to the firmly grounded ’Ulama. They may even make rulings on others or on some people or they may even make rulings on some senior students of knowledge by accusing them of irja ’ or by making tabdi ’ or tafseeq of them and the likes. I remind those people that they are upon danger and they will be called to account for all which emanates from their tongues, yes.

(2)Translator’s note: see the end of the lecture here, as the question is right at the very end of the beneficial lecture after an hour and eleven minutes, the lecture was given during this Summer’s annual 10th Imam Darul- Hijrah Dawrah at Masjid Qiblatayn in Madeenah 1431 AH (July 2010 CE) http://www.alsoheemy.net/play.php?catsmktba=2753 (The link is not working at present due to some technical problem).

Shaykh Saalih bin ’Abdul’Azeez Aali Shaykh (hafidhahullah) ON CORRECTING THE STATEMENTS OF A SCHOLAR OF THE SUNNAH AND NOT SEEKING TO TOTALLY DROP HIM, EVEN IN REGARDS TO ’AQEEDAH

Also, if the issue is connected to beliefs, or if the issue is connected to a scholar from Ahl ul- ’Ilm, and a fatwa that was given in the matter – then here it is necessary to look at the implications of the matter with consideration of the Masaalih and averting the Mafaasid. For this reason, you will see that the Imams of the da’wah, (may Allah have mercy on them), from the time of Shaykh ’AbdurRahman bin ’AbdulLateef bin Hasan, one of the famous Imams, up to Shaykh Muhammad bin Ibraheem, if the matter is connected to a scholar or an Imam, or to one who is influential in the Sunnah, then they stop and stay away from getting involved in it.

Shaykh Siddeeq Hasan Khan al-Qanuji al-Hindi , who is well-known with our ’Ulama as having a status, and they hold his book ad-Deen ul-Khalis in high estimation – even though he criticised the da’wah in many instances in his book. However, they disregard that and do not escalate it in order to benefit from the principal matter which is to establish tawheed and avert shirk.

A second example is with: Imam Muhammad bin Isma’eel as-San’ani , who is well-known and the author of Subul us-Salam and other works. He also authored Tatheer ul-’I’tiqad and he has huge efforts in causing people to return to the Sunnah and to stay away from censured taqleed, partisanship and innovation. However, he slipped-up in some issues such as in the famous Qaseedah which has been ascribed to him wherein he praised the da’wah and then it was said “he retracted from that poem of his with another poem” when he stated: ‘I have retracted from the statement (of praise) that I stated about an-Najd ’ meaning Muhammad bin ’AbdulWahhab an-Najdi. This poem was seized upon by some leaders of innovation and the poem was ascribed to him and his son Ibraheem and disseminated, so even though as-San’ani supported the da’wah he later retracted (his support for the da’wah).

Likewise, ash-Shawkani (rahimahullah), and his status is also famous, yet with this our ’Ulama…{sic} Ash-Shawkani has some errant ijtihad in regards to tawassul and in regards to Allah’s Attributes and his tafseer of some verses of the Qur’an contains some ta’weel, and he also said some things about ’Umar (radi Allahu ’anhu) which are not good, and he also said some things about Mu’awiyah (radi Allahu ’anhu) which were not good – however the ’Ulama do not mention this and Shaykh Sulayman bin Sahman (rahimahullah) authored a book entitled Tabria’at ush- Shaykhayn al-Imamayn [The Innocence of the Two Shaykhs and Imams] meaning by the two: Imam as-San’ani and Imam ash-Shawkani , why? Why did he author the book? Because the foundation which those ’Ulama were based upon was the Sunnah and they did not oppose us in the foundation of belief, tawheed or aiding the Sunnah, or oppose us in refuting innovation – rather they made ijtihad and erred in some issues, and a scholar is not to be followed in his error and it is to be left and kept quiet about while the truth is spread and his words which support it.

When Ibn Khuzaymah (rahimahullah) erred in regards to the issue of the Image, as is well- known wherein he negated affirming the Attribute of the Image from Allah Mighty and Majestic, the ’Ulama of the Sunnah refuted him. Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) refuted him on that in over one hundred pages.

Yet with that, the ’Ulama of the Sunnah say about Ibn Khuzaymah that “he was an Imam” and the ’Ulama of the Sunnah are not pleased with anyone slandering Ibn Khuzaymah because he authored the book at-Tawheed which is filled with defending Allah’s tawheed and affirming Allah’s Perfection in His Names and Descriptions. Adh-Dhahabi (rahimahullah) said in Siyar A’lam un-Nubala ’: “Ibn Khuzaymah erred in this issue” therefore, here then, if errors in these issues arise what should the position be?

The position is that:

his (the scholar’s) agreement with the with us on the foundation of the deen should be looked at along with his agreement with the Sunnah and support for tawheed and supporting the spread of beneficial knowledge and his da’wah to guidance and the likes from general principles. So he should be advised and possibly refuted with vehemence. However, he is not to be slandered in total. This was the manhaj of the Imams of the da’wah in these issues as is well-known.

And the virtuous Shaykh Saalih bin Muhammad al-Luhaydan(hafidhahullah) narrated to me when he mentioned the last Qaseedah of as-San’ani wherein he was said to have said or wrote: “I have retracted from (the praise) that I stated about an-Najd ”, that:

I asked our Shaykh Muhammad bin Ibraheem (rahimahullah) about it and if it was (correctly) ascribed to him (i.e. as-San’ani ) or not and Shaykh Muhammad said: ‘It apparently appears to have been stated by him and the Masha’iykh of our Masha’iykh deem it to be accurately ascribed to him however they do not want it to be said because he supported the Sunnah and refuted innovation even though he attacked the da’wah (an- Najdiyyah, the da’wah to tawheed) and spoke about Shaykh Muhammad bin ’AbdulWahhab in his poem.’ Ash-Shawkani has a poem which he sent to Imam Sa’ud wherein he forbade him from many actions such as killing, expanding the country and the likes of these things, however his status is preserved but what they erred in are not to be followed and it is forbidden to follow them in that.

This is because the Sharee’ah came with obtaining benefits and perfect them and averting harms and reducing them, this is a principle which has been agreed upon and it has a major influence, rather, it has to have a major influence in fatwa (rulings).

[ From side B of the tape ‘al-Fatawa Bayna Matabiqat ash-Shar’ wa Masayarat ul-Ahwa ’’ [Legal Rulings: Between Agreement with the Divinely Legislation and Following Desires], it can be heard here after 47:30 minutes: http://www.mahaja.com/library/lectures/lecture/1079 ]

“From the widespread mistakes is that when a scholar’s refutation of an opposer is issued, or a fatwa warning against an error, is to require many students who ascribe themselves to the Sunnah, the ’Ulama and the Students of Knowledge, to “clarify their position” towards that refutation or that fatwa.

The matter has even reached the extent that certain junior students of knowledge, rather, common people, are required to make their stance clear on the refuter and on the one being refuted.

Furthermore, they base their loyalty and disavowal on that issue, and abandon people due to it. It may even reach the extent that due to this some students abandon some of their Shaykhs with whom they have benefitted in terms of knowledge and creed for many years.

This fitnah can even possibly reach the home, such that you will find someone abandoning his brother, or father, or perhaps even divorce his wife, and separate between the children due to such reasons.”

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Umar Ibn Al-Khattab said:

"If a man comes out of his house carrying a burden of sins like the mountains of Tihamah, then when he hears some knowledge he fears Allah and repents, he will go back home with no sins on him.
So do not forsake the gatherings of the scholars."
[Miftah Dar as-Sa’adah, 1/122; Fara’id al-Kalam, p. 135.]

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